Stevens Pass Bike Park

A bike-park at Stevens Pass. Now, there are those to whom this is a bigger issue. I like the idea of this beautiful part of the Cascade Mountains, which i so enjoy in the Winter months, being available for public use year round. however, for many, implementing Summer operations, in one form or another, has been a decade long struggle. Certain members of the Stevens Pass management team have fought tooth and nail, for the better part of a decade to see the Stevens Pass Bike Park become a reality.
At one point, The Sierra Club (who until very recently I carried the utmost respect for) argued that the area surrounding Stevens Pass was "prime wolverine habitat." I've spent a lot of time in these woods, in every month of the year. I have seen bears, cats of all shapes and sizes, deer, just about every bird or rodent that calls this slice of Cascadia home. In my time here, I've even seen a Pine Martin or two, but never have I heard tell of ANYONE seeing a Wolverine. Needless to say, The Sierra Club and other entities stalled and protested any progress on a bike-park at Stevens Pass for years.
All that guff aside, the bike park is soon to be a reality. Preliminary approval came through in late January, and corporate approval from the board of directors came through in early May. The bike park was happening. And it had a budget.
However, the project was purported a slim budget. In brainstorming idea's for creating additional capital, the idea of a "founder's pass" was introduced. This idea would become "The Drop In Alliance," a five-year season's pass to the Stevens Pass Bike Park. Two-hundred such passes would be sold, and the monetary gain would be put directly into the initial construction of the bike park.
Before construction could begin, however, a late-season snowpack nearing record proportions had to melt. April 2011 was ultimately the wettest and coldest on record, and as of May 23rd, it is still snowing regularly at  pass level (4061 feet in elevation).
As winter's snows have yet to recede from the slopes of Stevens Pass, I went out in the Leavenworth area with some local mountain-bikers to gather some shots for potential use with the bike park. Ultimately, the riding wasn't what i had expected of this crew, but in all fairness, it's been a wintry spring and these boys haven't quite put away their winter gear yet; they'd only been on bikes a couple of days thus far.
This summer should be exciting for Washington's large population of mountain-bikers. Stevens' operation is the first such endeavor undertaken in the State. After a lot of footwork to push the Drop-In Alliance, construction has begun (albeit mainly feature building, indoors, due to the weather thus far) its nearly time to sit back and watch the dirt-works take shape.

(Above) Leavenworth local rider, Nathan Cheyne, put his snowboard away for a few hours to come out and play in the mud.

(Above) Patrick Hennessey, Nathan Cheyne and another rider take full advantage of a few moments sunshine in what has been an abnormally wet spring here in Eastern Washington.

(Below) Nathan Cheyne proves he's no wildflower.